(Image source from: How AIIMS doctor faked Sunanda Pushkar's autopsy report?})

Months after Sunanda Pushkar, wife of former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor, was found mysteriously dead in a hotel room of a five-star in New Delhi on January this year, the mystery over her death remains unresolved. Rather, things now take a dramatic new twist after a top doctor from All India Institute of Medical Sciences has sensationally revealed that he was “pressured” to act in an “unprofessional manner” to cover up the case.

Dr. Sudhir Gupta, the head of forensic sciences in AAMS has filed an affidavit with the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) claiming that he was forced by former Union Minister and president of AIIMS, Ghulam Nabi Azad to lie in his report.

"(The) applicant could not muster courage of openly placing the facts in black and white as the former president of AIIMS Ghulam Nabi Azad was an immensely powerful politician and then the health minister and the husband of late Sunanda Pushkar was also a minister and a powerful politician," the affidavit stated.

Gupta, who headed the panel which conducted Sunanda's postmortem, has requested in his application to CAT to allow him to give his views in sealed envelope.

To strengthen his case, Gupta has also provided details of emails exchanged between the AIIMS director and Tharoor. Incidentally, Gupta's disclosure comes at a time when he is being held for plagiarism and misconduct.

In his plea, Gupta has alleged that there was a conspiracy to throw him out as the head of the department three days ahead of the new NDA government came into power.

In his private letter to the Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan, he challenged the promotion of Dr O.P. Murty as professor, alleging that it was against AIIMS rule.

Gupta said that the AIIMS authorities wanted him to leave owing to his involvement in the the post-mortem of Sunanda and Nido Tania because he had "taken a professional and ethical stand which went against vested interests of certain persons in AIIMS."

The viscera report of Sunanda Pushkar, who was found dead days after she was got into a verbal spat with Mehr Tarar, a Pakistani journalist, on a social networking site Twitter whom she accused of having an affair with her husband, hinted that she died of drug poisoning.

Sunanda's mysterious death had aroused suspicion of a murder. However, talks were laid to rest after autopsy report confirmed that she died from drug poisoning.

AW: Suchorita Choudhury